Unless there is some huge change quickly, which there could be, looks like low 90s during the day and 60 or so at night. This is based on the data from the last 2 months. However, this is the data from Gerlach and I have heard that on playa temps are higher during the day and cooler at night, but I have no data to support that.

I've recently taken photos of it - if anyone's interested. Whether cold or hot, I highly recommend that everyone prepare for the loosest dustiest playa surface in at least the ten years I've gone out there. If you have any influence over the weather by praying or dancing or similar ritual, try for zero wind, because that's what it will take for this stuff to remain on the ground. You can go to my site to see the photos: http://blackrocktribe.com and click on "2007 Playa Surface Condition."

Personally, I love a good sand storm. Makes things exciting. I'll never forget a HUGE sandstorm that hit me while I was riding my bike out on the playa in 1998. I stumbled into Biancas and was blinded. Fixed a cocktail and had a smoke and hunkered down to ride it out. I heard a strange sound, and I thought, no . . . IT CAN'T BE!!! - - - but it was. The Burning Band with trombones, trumpets, tubas, and drums wearing goggles freakin' marched into the joint playing "Yes! We Have No Bananas." They played three songs and marched back out there. I was dumbfounded.

I bought goggles the next year and defy the weather gods. If you are going, get goggles. Scott brand has some great products - but there are other brands. I bring a couple different types for different situations - lighting, riding, sand density. Make sure your eyes can "breathe" in the goggles. Bring face masks. They might even be a good playa gift this year, so bring some extras.

Word of mouth from people currently on the playa setting up is that the weather's great and all's clear - when the wind isn't blowing. If the wind gets over 5mph then it's a different story. All folks should prepare for dust. LOTS of DUST.

Word of mouth from people currently on the playa setting up is that the weather's great and all's clear - when the wind isn't blowing. If the wind gets over 5mph then it's a different story. All folks should prepare for dust. LOTS of DUST.

The two thing you wanna prepare for if you've ever experienced them on the playa are rain and whiteouts. We've not had rain in a good number of years so people look at me kinda funny when they see I've brought along my Wellies but.... ya never know

I've gotten two reports from the playa in the last 24 hours. Both are severely dusty. One friend, an 8 year burner, calls this the dustiest he's ever seen it and the event hasn't even started. Another friend says they've been experiencing white outs daily, and it caused some delay with the start of marking out some of the theme camp spaces.

I've been cautioned to make sure I've got a really good dust mask, and make sure my goggles have no vents (ventilated goggles are almost useless during a white out). I've got electrical tape to block the vent holes on my ventilated gogs, and am seriously thinking of picking up a couple dust masks this year, instead of just using bandanas.

Speaking of dust masks, for the past couple of years I've went to Home Despot and picked up N95 particulate masks. They work...sort of. It doesn't take long though before I start feeling spacey because I can't breathe out of the damn things. Plus they looks like crap.

Can anyone recommend something else that really works and doesn't look like a WWII gas mask or costs as much as the ticket itself?

This is a message from Ranger Hughbie that was forwarded to the AEZ message list. My wife and I have good quality respirators and full jumpsuits but still, this could be a very challenging experience. With these poor conditions, I really feel sorry for anyone that shows up unprepared and I'm a little surprised (though not really) that the BM home page does not include an alert or something to let people know what they may be in for.

AEZers,

See below Ranger Hughbieâ€™s Playa conditions report from this past Sunday and
heed the following:

* Anticipate and prepare for high winds and frequent, long whiteouts.
* Good goggles and spares are a must.
* Bring sterile eye wash, lots, (and saline nose spray).

Ranger Lefty clear

The foregoing replies to your most valid questions
were, well highly entertaining. But as I suspect you
seriously want to know what the hell's going on up
there to plan/pack accordingly so here's a copy of an
email I wrote to a friend to help him better prepare.
I was on Playa last Sunday the 19th:

It was terrible yesterday. When I got up there at 9am
it was a huge dust cloud. Visibility only got worse as
the day wore on. It was too dangerous to drive at
times so I took a bicycle instead. Many times I
couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of me. It was
more livable by 4pm. Interestingly enough, you could
not see the sun with all the dust BUT it kept it very
cool on the ground, even though it was mid 90s
elsewhere. It was great working weather. It was
strange seeing some people putting jackets on at 5pm.
Many people people are running around with cartridge
type respirators on.

Bring dust masks and good vented goggles that don't
fog up are an absolute necessity. I got some of those
throwaway dust masks that have the one way valve on
them to keep my goggles from getting steamy. We
managed to get all the trusses built and the posts
bolted on yesterday for the Earth Guardians Pavilion.
It was kind of demoralizing at times working in that
shtuff. Think Hidalgo or the Mummy where the wall of
dust comes down. It reminded me of our worst days in
Iraq.

Part of the problem is the lack of water this last
winter to really solidify the playa. Then the winds
have been high so that sucks the dust up. And it's not
just the usual fine dust. There are these granules of
playa that get in your eyes and scratch away more than
the usual dust. The ground is covered with them as
that's how the playa is crumbling apart. I mean to say
there are these little drifts piling up 3-5 inches
everywhere AND there was hardly any traffic coming in
the Gate to really stir up the ground. These shifting
sands if you will, piled up against everything. When
the expected 45,000 start rolling in next week it
could really suck, especially if these winds keep up.

Tell all your burner friends what we are in for and to
be prepared.

** You also should bring sterile eye wash. Visine
only dries the eyes out and can lead to a reduction in
natural tear production. Use a moistener instead such
as Thera Tears Lubricant Eye Drops or another brand of
your choosing. If a person suffers from dry eye
already, it would be very good to flush their eyes out
before they go to bed and put some eye type
lubricating ointment in before they go to sleep. That
way their eyes can get a break while they rest.

'hope that gives you an idea of how bad it could still
get. I haven't checked the wind forecast, cuz, well,
even if it's 90 miles an hour I'll be there with you.

Ok, daytime dust I can deal with by staying close to camp and sleeping through some of it. But does anyone have reports of what it's been like at night when you don't have daytime heating kicking up the wind?

Judging from past experiences, when it's dusty as fuck by day, and the temps don't get as high, it is severely cold at night (into the 40's, with a wind chill that seemed much colder). I seem to remember being cold all night every night from Tuesday through the end of the burn in 2004, and that was nothing compared to 'back in the day' according to many seasoned vets. This year is looking like it'll be even more extreme.